Hello, Goodbye

John 12:1-8

This intimate moment between Jesus and Mary, sister of Lazarus, is surely a significant one in the witness of the disciples and the stories passed down about Jesus because it appears in all four gospels.  It is a moment that is almost too intimate to witness, even amongst the pages of a book, because it shows Mary pouring her whole heart out for Jesus, in front of everyone.

She takes a jar of perfumed oil and pours it on Jesus feet, tenderly wiping it with her hair. 

I am not sure if the disciples react so negatively because, as they say, she wasted an expensive perfume, or because they are so uncomfortable with the intimate scene in front of them. Perhaps they didn't like a woman so blatantly showing a deep affection in a public way.

Now, I don't know, and it doesn't really matter, whether this was an intimacy that involved a romantic link. But I do believe that this is the time and place that she first sees Jesus' journey clearly. She sees what he is headed for. She knows what awful death lies ahead. And so she anoints him with a perfume that would have been used for a burial rite. Publicly, in front of everyone, so that all may be aware.

But of course, they miss the point. It is just too hard to see. No one wants to face the cross in front of them, so they ridicule Mary and her extravagant actions and scold her for being wasteful.

And yet, here she is, trying not to waste any time, trying to show Jesus her devotion before it is too late. Trying to make sure that Jesus sees her understanding of his path.

She is saying hello, welcoming him into the evening meal in a common way, by washing the feet, but also goodbye, letting him know that she is aware of what is happening to him by anointing his feet with a burial oil.

When do we see the inevitable on the road in front of us but pretend we don't?  When do you take an exit and say hello to the wrong place?  How do we equip ourselves to head into the stream of hellos and goodbyes we face in our own lives in the years ahead?  

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